In this passionate and atmospheric debut novel, Elizabeth Hickey reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge, the woman who posed for Klimt's masterpiece <I>The Kiss</i> -- and whose name he uttered with his dying breath. <P> Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the twelve-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her. <I>The Painted Kiss</i> follows Emilie as she blossoms from a naïve young girl to one of Europe's most exclusive couturiers -- and Klimt's most beloved model and mistress. A provocative love story that brings to life Vienna's cultural milieu, <I>The Painted Kiss</i> is as compelling as a work by Klimt himself.